Chapter 29
Chapter 29
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: I Got a Job
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After the incident was resolved, I collapsed straight onto the soft bed in my room.
Sprawled out, I scrolled through the screen by flicking my finger like rolling a ball, and new posts flew by one after another in front of my eyes.
A faint smile crept onto my lips.
[Is this for real? My colleague nearly blew up a whole city district] (+89)
[One-Line Summary] (+121)
[So, the devil almost got summoned just now?] (+151)
[100 Reasons I Don't Watch TV] (+51)
[Turns out I'm an apostle when I was totally normal until yesterday?] (+111)
[Newb120053. When did you change your nickname?] (+67)
[Sewer cleanup costs lolololol] (+141)
[...So how did you handle the Doppelganger phase 3? Coin check.] (+512)
I hadn't aimed for it, but the Anomalous Tale Gallery's reaction was hot.
At first, just in case, I'd posted with the public service mindset of "Prepare for other worldlines too."
In the end, my post made it to the gallery's Hall of Fame.
The so-called "legendary post."
Now that it had a "Best" tag on the screen, even though nothing had really changed,
It gave me a rush like I had actually accomplished something.
Was this the platonic love people talked about?
[Gyeonggi-do Underground Sewer Urban Legend Epilogue and Discovered Questions][Photos attached +2] (+3511)
While skimming the comments on my post, my eyes paused at the photo attachment.
Truth be told, I had taken the photo, but I hadn't expected an actual email to come to me.
Right after escaping the Underground Sewer Urban Legend.
When I shared my questions and thoughts with the approaching Investigators, the atmosphere wasn't exactly friendly.
Black suits and inorganic gazes.
We'll report it upstairs.
We'll let you know when we have results.
That was the entirety of their response to my words.
Thanks to that, instead of feeling relieved after speaking up, I grew even more anxious.
'Are they ignoring my words like some movie protagonist? Or is there some shadowy conspiracy deal going on in the upper ranks?'
All sorts of thoughts had chained together over the past few days.
And a few days later, the letter from the Anomaly Management Corporation arrived via email, letting me know all my worries had been pointless.
Additional investigation underway.
Guidance on official approval procedures.
And even a thank-you note.
On top of that, I got a report from Kang Su-ji saying "It's being processed," so it was confirmed.
"No way... They really needed to report to their superiors, so that's why they said that, and even they didn't know until the results came out, so 'We'll let you know when we have results'? And their faces were just naturally grim-looking?"
In the end, they were just dutiful public servants doing their jobs quietly and diligently.
I offered a small apology in my mind.
Meanwhile, confirming this case was handled well made me suddenly recall Kang Su-ji's expression that day.
When I finished speaking, her face was something else.
She looked ready to grab a dagger and charge into city hall like a bulldozer.
If Kim Se-ra hadn't been there, the next day's news headline might have been [Anomaly Management Corporation Investigator Occupies City Hall].
Kang Su-ji, cleaving city hall in half.
I chuckled at the brief fantasy and picked up my phone.
Fiddling with it, I went to the call log.
Getting swept up in the anomaly and running around nonstop had made me put off important calls, I realized.
[Missed Calls: Mom] x7
I immediately hit the call button.
After a few connection tones, it cut off.
[Mom]
–What's this? You calling first?
I took a deep breath and opened my mouth.
"I got a job."
I said it calmly, but confidence laced my voice.
"So don't worry. I'll bring gold rings and a full-course beef galbi next week when I come home. Keep that in mind."
I hung up softly, got up, and put on my coat.
I'd finally gotten a job.
One is a residential security specialist consultant.
Blocking external intrusions day and night, thoroughly managing the living environment.
In other words, a home guard.
The other is a global market trends analyst.
Sharply observing fluctuating markets, devising strategies for asset growth.
In other words, a retail investor.
Of course, it's all pompous packaging.
But there was a reason I could confidently tell Mom, "I got a job."
Unbeknownst to me, I had a talent for stocks.
Three short days.
Charts I'd pored over all night rubbing my eyes.
And confirming via news articles that the stock I'd gone all-in on was actually surging.
[Breaking News][NobelPa to Expand 100 Billion Settlement Payments]
[NobelPa][+52.5%]
Feeling my heart pounding, I opened the stock bank app.
Excitement tingled in my fingertips as I checked how much my assets had grown.
How much did I make?
My seed money was 100 million won.
With familiar motions, I entered my ID and password.
[The ID you entered does not exist.]
[Please check and enter again.]
?
What?
I entered it again.
[The ID you entered does not exist.]
"What... where did it go?"
A fear greater than when I realized the black engine in the underground hall was an illusion crawled up my spine.
"No way? Don't mess with me."
I hurriedly tried re-registering, refreshed the screen.
The transaction history was empty.
'Where did it go... the stock I bought?'
I denied reality.
My fingers trembled.
I'd dumped my entire fortune, 100 million won in bullets, into an all-in buy.
And as befits a real man's challenge, the reward was sweet.
50% up.
But no buy record.
A question swirled in my cooling head.
'When... did I buy the stock?'
I clearly remembered buying it.
Even up to when I finished buying and logged into the Anomalous Tale Gallery out of boredom—...?!
Realization struck like lightning in my mind.
The first round, when the black sun rose in the sky.
"Ah...!"
Then, my 50 million won...?
The balance still showed 100 million.
But the number that felt so reassuring just looking at it days ago now looked hollow.
I hadn't lost money, but it felt like I had.
Feels like about 50 million?
My gaze naturally turned back to the chart.
'If I jump in now... is it too late?'
Upturn. A graph stretching endlessly upward.
That's when the vibration rang.
[Deposit: 100,000,000 won]
[Depositor: Anomaly Management Corporation]
A moment later, another notification arrived.
[Kang Su-ji]: I asked the foundation to deposit it as fast as possible! lol
Staring at my phone, I blanked out.
100 million won. The reward for staking my life.
It might seem paltry for risking my life, but I had no complaints about the amount.
From the start, when first hired as anomaly suppression personnel, it was the pre-agreed contract payment.
Since this was an overlap anomaly, they probably doubled it considering that.
I was the only one who knew it had entered phase 3 anomaly.
Not to mention that it ultimately turned into a "devil."
The agency rated it phase 2—danger level.
To them, it was just an overlap with a Doppelganger intrusion.
According to Kim Se-ra, there were no proper observation records of the devil before.
So, when reporting, I intentionally omitted that part.
No way to prove it even if I claimed it was a devil.
But that's not important right now.
The funds in my hands.
Bullets doubled now.
But at the same time, my profit/loss was -50 million won.
The equivalent of one Gyeonggi Gwangju Station anomaly reward.
I stood at the crossroads of jumping in now or not.
I refreshed the chart.
The numbers ticked up another notch before my eyes.
'If I'd jumped in just now... 4.7%.'
The calculator whirred in my head.
200 million × 0.047 = 9.4 million won.
Round up.
"Ten million won?!"
Why do any work?
Just sit and click the mouse once, and money duplicates?
"Recover principal only, then quit. For real."
[Buy]
Click—
***
The bus stopped.
Every step down the bus stairs sent sharp, throbbing pains echoing through my body.
It was partly from overdoing it writing the letter a few days ago, but the main culprit was catching Kang Su-ji as she fell.
'...She was kinda heavy...'
A massive hospital loomed before me.
White exterior walls gleamed, glass doors sliding open and shut repeatedly.
People coming and going at the entrance.
Those in patient gowns with IV lines on their arms, elderly supported by family, nurses hurrying in.
I scanned quickly.
'No anomalies. OK.'
Cars lined up in the parking lot, ambulances painted white and green, big red crosses.
Banners on the walls fluttered in the wind with phrases like "Free Health Checkup Guide."
'All good.'
I nodded.
"Excuse me."
Final confirmation step.
I stopped a middle-aged man passing by the hospital.
"How long... has this place been here?"
"Hmm. This place... about six years, I'd say?"
He answered nonchalantly and walked on.
I looked up at the hospital building again.
Truth be told, since it's near my house, I've been here plenty.
Just double-checking to be safe.
This is fine... safe.
I kept walking...
And turned right of the hospital.
"Still, let's grab some food first."